Ross County defender Paul Quinn has put contract discussions on hold until Premiership safety is secured.
County are six points clear of Quinn’s former club Motherwell, who occupy the relegation play-off position, after Saturday’s 1-1 draw against the Steelmen at Fir Park.
The 29-year-old, pictured, has played every game since joining from Doncaster Rovers in October, captaining the side in the absence of injured midfielder Richard Brittain.
With just three games left, starting with Saturday’s home match against St Mirren, Quinn is determined not to let uncertainty about his future distract efforts to keep County clear of 11th place.
Quinn said: “I had the same kind of situation last year when I was discussing a new contract with Doncaster and didn’t want to tempt fate and discuss it while we were in the relegation mix.
“I don’t think it is fair to anybody to discuss futures at this time.
“The manager has enough going on, I’ve got enough going on – we want the job done.
“I assume when things are sorted I will speak to the club and we’ll go from there.
“But I don’t want to be discussing contracts and then going into Saturday with those distractions.
“I came here to try to get the club safe and be successful for Ross County.
“The manager has started building already, so it is certainly not put to the back of the cupboard but there is a time and a place – it’s just to early.”
Quinn has hailed manager McIntyre for keeping the players focused on the task but will not accept the plaudits until the threat of relegation is gone.
He added: “We’re all waiting for the credit should we stay up, but the job is not done so we can’t get too ahead of ourselves.
“The sooner we do it the better, then we can reflect on where we were three or four months ago, and talk what a turnaround it’s been.
“But nobody remembers a team that wins five or six games in a row then gets relegated, so it is vital we don’t get carried away.
“The management only talk about the game coming, never last week or next week.
“That works both ways. It means we don’t carry on any negative thoughts or feelings from the previous game.
“There have been nice things said about us going into the final part of the season, people have noticed what we’ve done, but it counts for nothing if we don’t get enough points to stay in the league.”